Does humanity deserve Corona?

[Alex K]

"Most people under 40yo just live like animals. Their cognitive functioning is non existent"

From where I stand, it's the >40 crowd effing up our future.

Also, as a teacher, I know your statement is wrong firsthand.

Well, hell.  What did I do wrong this time?  40 was a couple of decades ago for me.

Not you personally
Your generation and the 20 years before you (on average) were the first in the history of mankind, and probably the last, whose lives were powered basically entirely by fossil fuels. White men >40 are voting fascists back into power worldwide because they are worried about their manly manhood.

[WinterHold]

I agree! When examining issues about governance in the Muslim world, we need evidence. Not just unsupported assertions. For example:

You asserted that Muslims are forbidden from using interest in banking. As counter-evidence against this claim, I can offer several facts. 

Here is the page from the national Bank of Bangladesh showing current interest rates:
https://www.bb.org.bd/econdata/intrate.php

Here is the page from the CEIC on long term interest rates in Bangladesh:
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/ba...erest-rate

Here is an article from the Daily Star newspaper in Bangladesh on how interest rates on savings deposits decreased, causing anger and alarm among depositors. If all the depositors thought that interest was forbidden by their religion, they would not have opposed a rate drop:
https://www.thedailystar.net/business/de...nt-1847881

So at least one of your assertions does not survive scrutiny. The government, banks, and investors in at least one Muslim-majority country have no problem with interest. For your assertion, that Islam forbids interest, to be persuasive I think you'll have to offer some pretty strong counter-evidence. 

You have also asserted that majority Muslim former colonies have failed economically due to Islamic rules about finance. Other than the law against interest, which has now been shown to be not in force, you haven't pointed to any Muslim rules that cause such failure. Meanwhile, it's obvious that many many non-Muslim-majority countries have economic difficulties due to interference from more powerful countries. To show that such interference is NOT a factor in poor Muslim countries will require strong counter-evidence. 

You assert without evidence that Muslims are considered high-risk for bank loans. I don't know how to discover the banks' lending policies, and I'm pretty sure that a bank in the US which discriminated on the basis of religion would not advertise that fact. As evidence, though, that Muslims participate normally in the banking systems I can point to the millions of successful Muslim businessmen in the US, in Britain, in Europe, in the more peaceful countries of the Middle East, etc. Are they able to start businesses with out bank loans? To show that banks are unwilling to take them as clients will require strong evidence from you. 

In addition, I can continue to point to Muslim-majority countries whose economies are in bad condition due to obvious interference from stronger countries. Iran is the obvious case in point, since the US continues to enforce broad sanctions against them, including on needed medical equipment in times of pandemic. You will need to show strong evidence to persuade us that US interference is not a strong factor in the weakness of the Iranian economy.

In short, the meme you post is very relevant, if you accept that you are Ken Ham in this thread, and I am the one demanding and offering evidence. I suspect you are actually better looking than Ken Ham, however, and if you do become interested in offering evidence in addition to your assertions, I promise to read it.

This line alone can force my laughter to explode, especially that I'm living in the Middle East.
The banks of the Muslim world -especially places like Saudi Arabia- are indeed using interest ! This member is not just lying and spreading false rumors; but he is very ignorant too !!

I won't waste my time replying to him, but in short: no Muslim country can live without interest in banks. This person is flat-out lying !

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I think Atlas has Koranavirus!

I hope God protects me. I'm trying my best to take precautions.

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I think Atlas has Koranavirus!

Which apparently, in later stages, makes you a hateful ass.

I was okay with deluded Atlas...this new version is unpleasant.

I was okay with you too. I think you are the deluded though, there is no new version I am what I am. But I feel that the economic system is taking a huge hit.

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You cry because Coronavirus is killing some thousands of you.

But why didn't you cry for Chinese Uighur Muslims butchered by the communist government?
Why didn't you cry for the Millions in Syria killed by Assad?
Why didn't you cry for Millions killed in Yemen by Saudi/U.A.E airstrikes?
Why didn't you cry for thousands tortured in prisons of Saudi Arabia?

Does humanity of today deserve covid-19 ?
I say yes.
Millions would also say yes.

Just like when the Black Death came.

Well the moral fabric of society is all but gone now. We live more like wild animals than human now
Most people under 40yo just live like animals. Their cognitive functioning is non existent
They simply act on their ideological instincts which they have been indoctrinated in like a religion

Stuff like hating billions of people for the actions of a few, encouraging vile sexual acts among kids, killing babies the list goes on
There's people here that would say that all Christians deserve this

However i don't think anyone deserves this no matter who they are

Today's dark world was built by the old fools who were blind, greedy, have a superiority complex and above all: selfish. They rarely thought about our generation to be honest.

[Belacqua]

This line alone can force my laughter to explode, especially that I'm living in the Middle East.
The banks of the Muslim world -especially places like Saudi Arabia- are indeed using interest ! This member is not just lying and spreading false rumors; but he is very ignorant too !!

I won't waste my time replying to him, but in short: no Muslim country can live without interest in banks. This person is flat-out lying !

Well, since Mr. Greene respects Bill Nye but not Ken Ham (and rightfully so) I'm sure he'll be willing to change his position based on the evidence. 

 

Today's dark world was built by the old fools who were blind, greedy, have a superiority complex and above all: selfish. They rarely thought about our generation to be honest.

To me, this gets us back to the point I wanted to make earlier. It's true that lots of people in every religion have gotten away from core principles concerning finance, the treatment of strangers, etc. 

Mr. Greene seemed to be saying earlier that this is undoubtedly a good thing. That Muslims' willingness to use interest makes modern finance possible. But these leaves unaddressed the question of whether modern finance is at all desirable. It seems pretty clear that capitalism is what's killing the world these days. And as Fredric Jameson says, it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. 

If we did embrace a system in which (as Jesus wanted) all property was held in common and shared out to those most in need, the world might be better. If religion could hold that nature is sacred, it would provide an alternative way to value things that isn't measured in exchange value or use value.  

There might be ways other than the sacred to accomplish this, but our whole tradition comes from religion, like it or not, and in searching for alternatives these are the tools that our history gives us.

[Abaddon_ire]

Well, hell.  What did I do wrong this time?  40 was a couple of decades ago for me.

Not you personally
Your generation and the 20 years before you (on average) were the first in the history of mankind, and probably the last, whose lives were powered basically entirely by fossil fuels. White men >40 are voting fascists back into power worldwide because they are worried about their manly manhood.

And what do you think will happen to those crappy regimes when we in the west switch away from fossil fuels? Because that is coming if not already here. Saudi et al. will be trying to sell a product nobody wants. What will then happen to those regimes?

Will their "god" save them?

[arewethereyet]

Well, hell.  What did I do wrong this time?  40 was a couple of decades ago for me.

Not you personally
Your generation and the 20 years before you (on average) were the first in the history of mankind, and probably the last, whose lives were powered basically entirely by fossil fuels. White men >40 are voting fascists back into power worldwide because they are worried about their manly manhood.

Moving to fossil fuels was the next step.  I mean, were we going to keep cooking over wood fires and traveling in horse drawn or steam powered vehicles?  We should have been moving on to finding and utilizing the next step but humanity isn't always all that farsighted.

My aging hippie self spent a life trying to raise three responsible, reasonable adults (two out of three isn't bad) while scraping together a way to feed, house, and clothe said kids without an advanced education but a willingness to learn and a knack for bookkeeping.  

I will grudgingly accept that you clarified by pointing the finger at males of a certain age...I have lived long enough in the American south to know all about 'the good ole boy network'.

I'll run along now and tie dye something or align some chakras.  

[Fireball]

To answer the OP, NO! Coronavirus is part of the landscape, now, that is all. We don't deserve it, it just is. Get over your religious bias. What should have happened is that the British and the French had stayed out of the Middle East and let you guys do yourselves in. You've been killing each other for millennia, and I don't expect to see it end anytime soon. Fucking sick, to say the least. I'm low on sleep atm, so maybe I'll have a different opinion in the morning.

[WinterHold]

To answer the OP, NO! Coronavirus is part of the landscape, now, that is all. We don't deserve it, it just is. Get over your religious bias. What should have happened is that the British and the French had stayed out of the Middle East and let you guys do yourselves in. You've been killing each other for millennia, and I don't expect to see it end anytime soon. Fucking sick, to say the least. I'm low on sleep atm, so maybe I'll have a different opinion in the morning.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle...ugee-camps

Coronavirus: Fears of virus in Idlib refugee camps
There have been stark warnings from doctors, aid workers and the United Nations that camps for the displaced in North Western Syria could be devastated by an outbreak of coronavirus.
Almost one million people have fled their homes in the area since December when the Syrian regime launched an offensive to retake Idlib - the last opposition held province.
Health officials there fear as many as 100,000 might die unless medical supplies arrive urgently. So far there are no confirmed cases.

No; humanity does deserve.
One day God will ask every single one of us about where were we when those people died.

Their poor rotten bodies might carry another blow to this dark world.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

OP, can I come to your church and teach evolution?

[Duty]

I've loved this track since I was a kid - finally, it comes of age in the zeitgeist.

[WinterHold]

OP, can I come to your church and teach evolution?

I am not a part of any religious "church" or "mosque"; but if I managed to build my own then yes;you can come and teach about evolution.